Selling car on ebay. This could be fun.
Discussion
There are some basic rules for making a sale on eBay work and it's amazing how few people do even some of them.
1 describe the car honestly and comprehensively, include a stack of pics, be prepared to answer questions and publish any answers which may be of use to others - you cannot say or show too little but keep it breezy and light and AVOID CAPS and grumbling about feedback and other nonsense like that (and especially keep your personal bigotry out of the ad - it's amazing how many people use ads to express their ignorance!!)
2 make it clear that inspections are welcome BEFORE the end of the sale but that you consider a bid as binding and not an invitation to kick the tyres/haggle thereafter (and encourage people to come and kick the tyres - any serious buyer will be all over it)
3 make it clear you're not interested in offers and have no 'Buy It Now' price (unless you do!) - it's so much more satisfying replying to the inevitable requests by saying "if you read the listing you'll see..." or even better "if you come here with cash I'll think about it".
4 ignore all the eBay nonsense about not selling outside eBay - if someone comes, kicks the tyres and offers cash - TAKE IT
5 do not use PayPal for ANYTHING related to the sale - not a deposit - nothing. If you take cash, take the person to the bank and bank it then and there. If they offer a cheque - explain the time they'll be waiting for it to clear. If they want to bank transfer, make sure you have proof of who the buyer is and proof they bought your car (yes, people really do sell to strangers they never meet and wonder why transfers get reversed).
6 if you're not within "a short drive of a nearby city" make that CLEAR - I've seen too many people who think everything is a 'short drive' and when they realise you're out in the sticks they lose interest (I recently had someone back out of a sale because they didn't realise Newcastle wasn't an "easy round-trip from Milton Keynes"...
7 remember that you're selling a car - not doing people a favour (no matter how cheap you think you're selling it) - you will need to work a bit and deal with people who want to txt, phone, email and have you take a picture of yourself holding custard, next to the car and allsorts - sometimes a bit of charm can yield a better result - being grumpy gets you nothing.
8 remember that they want the car for less than you want for it and some give will be required - a man who does not bend in the haggle will break AND still have his car to break with
1 describe the car honestly and comprehensively, include a stack of pics, be prepared to answer questions and publish any answers which may be of use to others - you cannot say or show too little but keep it breezy and light and AVOID CAPS and grumbling about feedback and other nonsense like that (and especially keep your personal bigotry out of the ad - it's amazing how many people use ads to express their ignorance!!)
2 make it clear that inspections are welcome BEFORE the end of the sale but that you consider a bid as binding and not an invitation to kick the tyres/haggle thereafter (and encourage people to come and kick the tyres - any serious buyer will be all over it)
3 make it clear you're not interested in offers and have no 'Buy It Now' price (unless you do!) - it's so much more satisfying replying to the inevitable requests by saying "if you read the listing you'll see..." or even better "if you come here with cash I'll think about it".
4 ignore all the eBay nonsense about not selling outside eBay - if someone comes, kicks the tyres and offers cash - TAKE IT
5 do not use PayPal for ANYTHING related to the sale - not a deposit - nothing. If you take cash, take the person to the bank and bank it then and there. If they offer a cheque - explain the time they'll be waiting for it to clear. If they want to bank transfer, make sure you have proof of who the buyer is and proof they bought your car (yes, people really do sell to strangers they never meet and wonder why transfers get reversed).
6 if you're not within "a short drive of a nearby city" make that CLEAR - I've seen too many people who think everything is a 'short drive' and when they realise you're out in the sticks they lose interest (I recently had someone back out of a sale because they didn't realise Newcastle wasn't an "easy round-trip from Milton Keynes"...
7 remember that you're selling a car - not doing people a favour (no matter how cheap you think you're selling it) - you will need to work a bit and deal with people who want to txt, phone, email and have you take a picture of yourself holding custard, next to the car and allsorts - sometimes a bit of charm can yield a better result - being grumpy gets you nothing.
8 remember that they want the car for less than you want for it and some give will be required - a man who does not bend in the haggle will break AND still have his car to break with
Edited by 405dogvan on Friday 30th August 19:01
Some good tips there. I've said its cash or bank transfer for the whole thing already.
Its 99p no reserve start but I've forgotten to mention that there's no buy it now price as I don't know what I want for it really. I'll ad that at the bottom and the bit about your bidding to buy not to come and view!
Its 99p no reserve start but I've forgotten to mention that there's no buy it now price as I don't know what I want for it really. I'll ad that at the bottom and the bit about your bidding to buy not to come and view!
Its weird. Sold my 675 back in 2009. Auto trader - no interest. EBay auction with reserve. Got to £3800, reserve was £4k. Put it as a classified on eBay for £4200 and sold within a week :/
Been watching A4's for weeks now and auctions with reserves have been going for £2k or just under. Auctions without reserves have been going for £2.5k. Ok stuff this eBay thing
Been watching A4's for weeks now and auctions with reserves have been going for £2k or just under. Auctions without reserves have been going for £2.5k. Ok stuff this eBay thing
TheBALDpuma said:
I've just done exactly the same for my puma. Currently sitting with two bids at £16 after only a few hours. It's been advertised for weeks at £675 with no interest.
The problem with yours is there are s
t load of pumas, with lower milage for less..I have seen pumas with 12 months mot and some tax , about 90k for 500 quid.
It is just supply and demand..
Word of warning with 99p auctions - people tend to view those as being cars which have 'issues'.
It's also possible that your car will stick at a silly price for a long period - and you may get a BIT panicky about that.
Basically, early-on you get "wow I might get this for £1/2/3/5/10/15/50 quid" bidders but once they're gone you're reliant on ACTUAL bidders and a lot of those will either
a - call you and try to buy the car then-and-there (and if they come with cash - sell it)
b - wait until the last possibly moment to bid.
Last bike I sold got 17 bids in the last 3 seconds of the auction - SEVENTEEN - from 8 different bidders, every one of whom was clearly using some sort of sniping system.
I've been banging-on for YEARS that eBay should auto-extend an auction after a bid (even if it's just by 2 mins) - it would make more for the seller and thus more for eBay and the only losers would be people who are, effectively, trying to cheat the system.
Unfortunately, eBay are more interested in competing with Amazon - which I've always found a bizarre situation for them to be in - they are NOT an auction site and we NEED a proper auction site IMO
It's also possible that your car will stick at a silly price for a long period - and you may get a BIT panicky about that.
Basically, early-on you get "wow I might get this for £1/2/3/5/10/15/50 quid" bidders but once they're gone you're reliant on ACTUAL bidders and a lot of those will either
a - call you and try to buy the car then-and-there (and if they come with cash - sell it)
b - wait until the last possibly moment to bid.
Last bike I sold got 17 bids in the last 3 seconds of the auction - SEVENTEEN - from 8 different bidders, every one of whom was clearly using some sort of sniping system.
I've been banging-on for YEARS that eBay should auto-extend an auction after a bid (even if it's just by 2 mins) - it would make more for the seller and thus more for eBay and the only losers would be people who are, effectively, trying to cheat the system.
Unfortunately, eBay are more interested in competing with Amazon - which I've always found a bizarre situation for them to be in - they are NOT an auction site and we NEED a proper auction site IMO
The Spruce goose said:
The problem with yours is there are st load of pumas, with lower milage for less..
I have seen pumas with 12 months mot and some tax , about 90k for 500 quid.
It is just supply and demand..
I was suprised at just how many are for sale tbh. And yeah, this was a classic case of me wanting more than the market says it's worth, but it just SHOULD be worth more than £500! Mine has 12 months MOT, a bit of tax and FSH (pretty much, until I got it!) but yeah, 137,000 miles which is, well a lot. It also has plenty of ferrous oxide that I'm throwing in for free.t load of pumas, with lower milage for less..I have seen pumas with 12 months mot and some tax , about 90k for 500 quid.
It is just supply and demand..
405dogvan said:
Word of warning with 99p auctions - people tend to view those as being cars which have 'issues'.
It's also possible that your car will stick at a silly price for a long period - and you may get a BIT panicky about that.
Basically, early-on you get "wow I might get this for £1/2/3/5/10/15/50 quid" bidders but once they're gone you're reliant on ACTUAL bidders and a lot of those will either
a - call you and try to buy the car then-and-there (and if they come with cash - sell it)
b - wait until the last possibly moment to bid.
Last bike I sold got 17 bids in the last 3 seconds of the auction - SEVENTEEN - from 8 different bidders, every one of whom was clearly using some sort of sniping system.
I've been banging-on for YEARS that eBay should auto-extend an auction after a bid (even if it's just by 2 mins) - it would make more for the seller and thus more for eBay and the only losers would be people who are, effectively, trying to cheat the system.
Unfortunately, eBay are more interested in competing with Amazon - which I've always found a bizarre situation for them to be in.
Hmm that would sound like a good system. As I bet many many people miss bidding for time running out. It has for me.It's also possible that your car will stick at a silly price for a long period - and you may get a BIT panicky about that.
Basically, early-on you get "wow I might get this for £1/2/3/5/10/15/50 quid" bidders but once they're gone you're reliant on ACTUAL bidders and a lot of those will either
a - call you and try to buy the car then-and-there (and if they come with cash - sell it)
b - wait until the last possibly moment to bid.
Last bike I sold got 17 bids in the last 3 seconds of the auction - SEVENTEEN - from 8 different bidders, every one of whom was clearly using some sort of sniping system.
I've been banging-on for YEARS that eBay should auto-extend an auction after a bid (even if it's just by 2 mins) - it would make more for the seller and thus more for eBay and the only losers would be people who are, effectively, trying to cheat the system.
Unfortunately, eBay are more interested in competing with Amazon - which I've always found a bizarre situation for them to be in.
Hopefully this weekend will get the ball rolling well into the hundreds then he final bidders will push it up close to £2k. I'll see though, I'm not really bother what it will sell for aslong as it's gone by next weekend.
405dogvan said:
I've been banging-on for YEARS that eBay should auto-extend an auction after a bid (even if it's just by 2 mins) - it would make more for the seller and thus more for eBay and the only losers would be people who are, effectively, trying to cheat the system.
That's what happens with trademe in NZ. Heaps better than ebay..TheBALDpuma said:
I was suprised at just how many are for sale tbh. And yeah, this was a classic case of me wanting more than the market says it's worth, but it just SHOULD be worth more than £500! Mine has 12 months MOT, a bit of tax and FSH (pretty much, until I got it!) but yeah, 137,000 miles which is, well a lot. It also has plenty of ferrous oxide that I'm throwing in for free.
This is the slump Puma Prices will go back up just like Mk2 GTi's..Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff